Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/644

* TURKEY. 558 TURKEY. The larger part of this trade is with Great Brit- ain, Austria-Hungary, France, Russia, Italy, and Bulgaria. The trade with the I'nited States is very small, but the exports to this country are steadily growing. The following table shows the trade (in millions of dollars) for six fiscal years, each ending on June 30: 1898 1899 1900 1901 190'2 1903 Imports from C. S... Exports to V. S 0.26 2.1 0.27 2.4 0,25 3.9 0.25 3.4 0.22 4.9 0.49 6.7 Turkey's exports to the United States are chiefly rugs and carpets, tobacco, hides and skins (goat skins), oils, and wool. The small imports from the United States into Turkey include cotton cloths, provisions, a few agricultural implements, and manufactures of iron and steel. All imports pay a taritV of 8 per cent, ad valorem except the Government monopolies, tobacco and salt, A duty of 1 per cent, is collected on all exports except cereals, Tr.NSPORTATION and COMMUJN-ICATION. The chief ports, Constantinople and Saloniki, are in direct rail conununication with the rest of Europe by lines extending to Belgrade. There is also a railroad extending westward from the Maritza Valley along the .-Egean to Saloniki and thence farther west to Monastir; and a branch road connects Uskub, on the Belgrade-Saloniki road, with Mitrovitza. These railroads, 1269 miles in length, have been a great boon to the internal and foreign commerce of the country, which, however, is still very poorly supplied with means of land transportation. The com- mon roads are scarcely worthy of the name and are used chiefly by pack animals. All land freights are excessive. The maritime trade on the natiu-ally favored south coast is more active. As Turkey's mercantile marine in 1901 included only 107 steamers, of 58,801 tons, and 916 sailing vessels, of 179.883 tons, most of the for- eign trade is carried in British, Greek, and other foreign vessels. In the year beginning JIarch, 1897, 188,034 vessels, of 34,332,877 tons, entered and cleared at all the ports of Turkey. Of this number 11,996, of 12,542,149 tons, were employed in the foreign trade and the remainder in the coasting trade. There is a steamship line trading directly between Constantinople and United States ports, which is to some extent stimulat- ing the connnercial relations of the two countries. Government, Turkey is an absolute theocratic monarchy, tlie executive and religious authority being vested in the Sultan (Padishah), who re- gards himself as the successor of the caliphs. The succession is vested in the eldest male mem- ber of the House of Othman. The form of gov- ernment takes its inspiration from the Koran and the opinions and sayings of Jlohammed, and has been from time to time supplemented by de- crees of the various sultans. Attempts to reform the Constitution and bring it into conformity with the constitutions in Western Eurojioan coun- tries have invariably failed. The will of the Sultan is absolute so long as it does not con- flict with the teachings of the Koran, The Sul- tan is assisted in the administration of affairs by the Grand Vizier, whom he appoints, and "who is in turn assisted by a Cabinet of 10 members, consisting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice, War, etc. There are also a Ministry of the Civil List (which has charge of the Imperial domains) and the Ministry of Po- lice. The public functionaries are divided into three classes: those connected with the laws and cults, the governmental department, and the army and navy. The functions of the legislative branch of government are performed by the Sul- tan together with the Grand Vizier and the Sheikh ul-Islam, who is also an ajjpointee of the Sultan, and is the' direct head of the Church. The appointment of the Sheikh ul-Islam, however, is nominally subject to the approval of the Ulema (q.v. ), an assemid}' of the clergy and leading jurists and educators of the Empire. This body is called together by the Mufti (see below). For purposes of local government, the Empire is divided into vilayets (pashaliks), ruled by Valis, or Governor-Generals, appointed by the Sultan. Each Vali is assisted by a provincial council, A few of the provinces are designated as mutessar- rifliks. The minor divisions are termed sanjaks, kazas, etc., and are under the supervision of officials appointed bj- the Valis. The Sultan's subjects possess freedom of their persons and nominally equality before the law. The judi- cial department is in a sense an adjunct of the executive, all executive officials being vested with authority to perform all duties connected with the administration of justice, Tlie learned class of Turks form three sections: those in the service of the cults (Imam), the law expounders (ilufti), and the judges (Kadi). The ideas and practice of justice, both secular and religious, are based on the Koran, and cases are decided according to the compilation which exists of the decisions that have been rendered during the centuries. The highest court is the Court of Ap- peals in Constantinople, with two chambers. There may be mentioned also the civil courts, criminal courts, and the commercial courts, whose de- cisions are based on the Code de Commerce. The commercial courts are formed of a president, two judges, and also two merchant judges se- lected from the colonics of foreigners. The lack of system and the prevalence of corruption in the judicial branch of government have necessitated measures called 'capitulations,' which provide that all foreigners settled in the country who are accused of crime or misdemeanor shall be tried onlj' before courts presided over by their respec- tive consuls. Litigation between foreigners of different nationalities is heard in the court of the defendant, and cases between foreigners and Turks are tried in local courts, to which the for- eign consuls have free access. This affords a guaranty that such trials will be legallj' con- ducted. Finance and Banking. The country is very heavily taxed by a variety of imjiosts, which in- clude tithes, taxes on land, persona! property, in- come, and sheep, as well as payments for exemp- tion from military service, etc. Other sources of revenue are the customs, the tobacco and salt monopolies, stamp tax, special taxes on various businesses such as the manufacture of spirits and the fisheries, taxes on silk products, etc. The revenue amounted in 1899 to $81,893,462 and the expenditures to .$81,533,341, The total funded and floating debt in 1902 was more than $710,- 000,000. The Imperial Ottoman Bank, with a